History of Sandisfield, (Berkshire County) Massachusetts United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Sandisfield, (Berkshire County) Massachusetts, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

John Brown, soldier, was born at Sandis-field, Mass., Oct. 19, 1744. After his graduation from Yale he studied the law, and practised first at Johnstown, N. Y., where he was king's attorney, and later at Pittsfield, Mass. In 1774 he was a member of the Massachusetts provincial congress, and in 1775 he was sent to Canada to make observations and reports as to the attitude of the people there. He received the appointment of major in the provincial army in July, 1775, and in the fall of that year aided in the capture of Fort Chambly. He served in the Quebec campaign under Col. Ethan Allen, and assisted in the surprise and capture of Ticonde-rosa, marching out the prisoners, and personally conveying the report of the expedition to Congress. In 1776 he was commissioned lieutenant colonel, and the following year commanded the forces that attacked Ticonderoga and other posts near Lake George and Lake Champlain. He succeeded in capturing all the British outposts between the north end of Lake George and Fort Ticonderoga. Mount Hope, Mount Defiance, the French lines, and many supplies and boats were seized, together with two hundred and ninety three British prisoners. He also set free about one hundred Americans. Not long afterwards he resigned from the army because of his intense hatred for Arnold, and three years previous to the treachery of the latter Brown denounced him in a hand-bill as a traitor, saying, "Money is this man's God, and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country !" Colonel Brown served in the Massachusetts legislature in 1778 and in the state militia. He marched to the relief of General Schuyler in the Mohawk valley in 1780, and, with forty-five of his command, was led into ambush and killed by the Indians at Stone Arabia, Palatine, N. Y., Oct. 19, 1780.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Sandisfield, (Berkshire County) Massachusetts

Biographies: